COMMUNICATING WITH AND ABOUT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
The Americans with Disabilities Act, other laws and the efforts of many disability organizations have
made strides in improving accessibility in buildings, increasing access to education, opening employment
opportunities and developing realistic portrayals of persons with disabilities in television programming and
motion pictures. Where progress is still needed is in communication and interaction with people with
disabilities. For example, individuals are sometimes concerned they will say the wrong thing, so they say
nothing at all—thus further isolating people with disabilities. Listed here are some suggestions on how to
relate to and communicate with and about people with disabilities.
Communicating About People with Disabilities
Positive language empowers. When writing or speaking about people with disabilities, it is important to
put the person first. Group designations such as "the blind," "the retarded" or "the disabled" are
inappropriate, because they do not reflect the individuality, equality or dignity of people with
disabilities. Further more, words like "normal person" imply that the person with a disability
isn't normal, whereas "person without a disability" is descriptive but not negative. The accompanying
chart shows examples of positive and negative descriptions.
| Affirmative Descriptors |
Negative Descriptors |
| person with an intellectual, cognitive, developmental disability |
retarded; mentally defective |
| person who is blind, person who is visually impaired |
the blind |
| person with a disability |
the disabled; handicapped |
| person with a hearing loss |
the deaf; deaf and dumb, suffers a hearing loss |
| person who has multiple sclerosis |
afflicted by MS |
| person with cerebral palsy |
CP victim |
| person with epilepsy, person with seizure disorder |
epileptic |
| person who uses a wheelchair |
confined or restricted to a wheelchair |
| person who has muscular dystrophy |
stricken by MD |
| person with a physical disability, |
crippled; lame; deformed; physically disabled |
| unable to speak, uses synthetic speech |
dumb; mute |
| person with psychiatric disability |
crazy; nuts |
| person who is successful, productive |
has overcome his/her disability; is courageous (when it implies the person has courage because of having a disability) |
NOTE: Remember, appropriate terminology changes with the times and people’s preferences may vary. If in doubt, ask. Most people with disabilities will be willing to help you.
Communicating with People with Disabilities
- When introduced to a person with a disability, it is appropriate to offer to shake hands. People
with limited hand use or who wear an artificial limb can usually shake hands. (Shaking hands with the
left hand is an acceptable greeting.)
- If you offer assistance, wait until the offer is accepted. Then listen to the answer or ask for instructions.
- Treat adults as adults. Address people who have disabilities by their first names only when
extending the same familiarity to all others.
- Relax. Don't be embarrassed if you happen to use common expressions such as "See you later,"
or "Did you hear about that?" that seem to relate to a person's disability.
- Don't be afraid to ask questions when you're unsure of what to do.
ACCESS THROUGH OUR WEB ADDRESS:
http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/dss/index.htm
Adapted from Effective Interaction: Communicating With and About People with Disabilities in the Workplace: http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/effectiveinteraction.htm, Retrieved on 12-02-08